Source: NZ Department of Conservation
It’s cooling down around the country, so how do you stay warm – and safe – in a DOC hut?
Media and Communications Advisor Krysia Nowak explores how to optimise your fireplace game.
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Staying warm
Many DOC huts have fireplaces to keep you toasty warm at the end of the day (you can check the DOC website or Plan My Walk to find out which huts). At times, the thought of a warm place is the only thing that keeps you going in a long day tramping in freezing conditions!
But do you know how to get the best performance from a DOC fireplace, or how to keep yourself and others safe? Read on.
7 ways to optimise your fireplace game:
1) Use only as much wood as you need
At some serviced and Great Walk Huts, firewood is supplied as an amenity. But remember this firewood is helicoptered in at great expense, and with all the associated carbon emissions, so burn responsibly and just what you need.
In other locations, you might need to gather dead wood from the forest. Remember, it’s never appropriate to chop down trees on public conservation land.
Insects, fungi, and the soil need some dead wood around, so take a bit, leave a bit, and try not to completely thrash the area close to the hut. We’re just visiting, so it’s important we don’t disrupt the lives of the creatures that call the woods home.
Whether wood is supplied or you collect it yourself, it’s best not to go overboard, so there’s plenty of wood for the next people seeking warmth at the end of the day. Using only what you need helps reduce your impact, leaves more wood to keep later visitors toasty, and gives you warm fuzzy feeling from being a good fellow human.
2) Stack wood appropriately
Stacking wood around the hearth or leaning against the burner box is asking for trouble. Stack it a little away from the fireplace so it doesn’t accidentally catch fire.
3) Keep the fire contained, and don’t leave it unattended
Hopefully, this is a no-brainer, and we all know that fire is dangerous and needs to be treated with care. Treat it like a wayward child with a pair of scissors; it’s probably fine if it keeps doing what it’s supposed to be doing, but I wouldn’t risk leaving it alone.
4) Burn fuel completely
Discovered a half-burnt log and some black charcoal in the fireplace? Don’t biff it, it’s perfectly good fuel! Burn fuel completely to make the best use of resources – again, making sure there’s enough to go around.
5) Put only cold ashes in the ash bins
This means no hot ashes. First off, handing hot ashes is dangerous, and even if you manage not to get burnt, hot ashes sitting in a bucket or disposed of outdoors have been known to damage huts as well. If you used the fireplace overnight, leave the ashes in the burner, since they might still be warm and be a fire hazard.
Once the ashes are cold, they can go in the ash bin – but don’t forget to save those half-burnt and charcoal bits, they’re still good for more warmth!
NO RUBBISH should go in ash bins.
While it may seem like a good idea to burn your rubbish, it can cause health issues for you and others using the hut. One example is people burning UHT milk cartons, which have a thin layer of foil inside. When these burn, the light foils fly up the chimney and settle on the roof, where the hut water is collected from. You see the issue; in the past, we’ve had to urgently clean out entire water tanks due to foil contamination.
Pack in, pack out. No, seriously, don’t put it in the toilet, don’t put it in the fireplace, don’t stuff it into a corner of the hut. Take your rubbish out with you.
Note: if the ash bin is full and you absolutely must dispose of ashes elsewhere, choose a patch of bare earth away from plants and wet it thoroughly so it doesn’t ignite.
6) Replace any wood you use
This is just being a decent person. It’s particularly important if people are using huts in emergency situations – leaving it prepared could be what helps someone make it through the night in relative comfort.
7) Extinguish fires completely before you leave
Again, this makes sense right? Don’t leave the burny thing alone to burn things. An unattended fire could burn down a hut, leaving others stranded without shelter, or it could start a wildfire. You don’t want either of those things on your conscience! Plus, they could cost a fortune to fix.
Plan to stop adding wood at least an hour before you leave to allow the fire to die naturally (a good idea is to allow the fire to die down overnight). If you need to extinguish it faster, damping it with some ash can speed up the process; just make sure it’s fully out before you head out yourself.
So, there you have it – optimise your hut fireplace game so everyone can enjoy their best cold weather tramping experience.
You can find out more about fire safety in the outdoors on the NZ Mountain Safety Council’s website here.
We also recommend making sure you’re fully comfortable and safe with your cooking apparatus, check out our Tips for the humble gas cooker | Conservation blog
Links to where you can find more info: